After a week of a two-quarterback system, No. 18 Notre Dame has one clear starter.
Junior DeShone Kizer, who took the vast majority of snaps in the 50-47, double-overtime loss Sunday at now-No. 11 Texas, announced Wednesday he will be the starter for Nevada’s visit Saturday, beating out senior Malik Zaire for the job.
“I had a conversation with Coach Kelly today and he decided that this week that I was going to get the first snap for sure,” Kizer said. “He kind of congratulated me on fighting through the process and encouraged me to maintain the same mindset and just ensured me that I would be the guy on Saturday.”
“As of now, I’m expecting to be the only guy,” he later added. “The conversation was just more to let me know I’ll be the guy. We’ll see how the game goes. Obviously, Malik is an amazing athlete and there’s going to come a time where you’re definitely going to see him on the field, I believe. That hasn’t really been talked about too much. All I know is [Kelly] told me to prepare to be the starter on Saturday, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Kizer threw for 215 yards and five touchdowns in Sunday’s loss, adding 77 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Meanwhile, Zaire played in just three offensive series and tallied only 23 yards of total offense. This will be the second straight season in which Kizer has taken over the starting role in the second game of the season as the Toledo, Ohio, native came in for Zaire in the third quarterback of the Virginia game last season to lead the Irish to a 34-27.
The Wolf Pack (1-0) come to South Bend on the heels of a 30-27 overtime win over FCS foe Cal Poly last week, while the Irish (0-1) will be looking to snag a first win on the season in the home opener.
